


Let Your Heart Beat Here

by side_biddy



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Alpha Andy | Andromache the Scythian, Alpha Booker | Sebastien le Livre, Alpha Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Alpha Quynh | Noriko, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Excessive fluff and cuddling, I've been super touch starved in quarantine don't @ me, M/M, Omega Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Omega Nile Freeman, POV Nile Freeman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:40:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28586616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/side_biddy/pseuds/side_biddy
Summary: Nile is absolutely certain that she loves Nicky.She just isn’t sure how to feel about Nicky also being an omega.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Nile Freeman & Nicky | Nicolo di Genoa
Comments: 69
Kudos: 425
Collections: Omega Nicky Holiday Gift Exchange





	1. Chapter 1

Sometimes Nile isn’t sure how to feel about Nicky. 

No, that isn’t quite true -- Nile _loves_ Nicky. Nicky is warm and welcoming. He spends days researching recipes that he thinks Nile might like and making the most delicious food she’s ever tasted. (Her mother would skin her alive if she heard her say that, but Nile figures that since she will never taste her mom’s cooking again, she’s allowed to be honest.) 

Nicky has the driest sense of humor of anybody she’s ever met; she’s never laughed harder than when she learned that Nicky’s favorite pastime is pranking Booker and blaming it on Joe. Nile loves when Nicky takes her shopping and lets her dress him up in ridiculous clothes, loves the way he’ll blush when Joe compliments him for the seventeenth time that day.

Nile is absolutely certain that she loves Nicky.

She just isn’t sure how to feel about Nicky also being an omega. 

Nile isn’t used to how _settled_ Nicky is being an omega. She comes from a family of alphas, and when she presented at sixteen, nobody knew what to do with her. Her mother had brought her to support groups, as if being an omega was a disease, something she had to work through and overcome. In high school she had gone to an Omega Pride parade, hoping that being surrounded by others like her she would finally begin to understand this part of herself a little better.

  
She didn’t find what she was looking for then. She certainly didn’t find what she was looking for in the Marines, where she had to be on suppressants for an entire year and show that she could defend herself against an alpha in rut before she was allowed anywhere near combat. 

Wherever she went, Nile felt like she had to prove herself as an omega. Had to prove to other omegas that she was participating in her own oppression; had to prove to every beta and alpha in the Marines that she wasn’t one of _those_ omegas, weak-willed and defenseless and aching for a knot. 

Nicky never acts like he has to prove anything. He’s ruthless and capable in a fight, but never gets offended when one of the alphas steps between him and a threat. He’ll chastise them for their stupidity -- _Hayati that bullet would have gone in my shoulder but it somehow ended up in your forehead!_ \-- but doesn’t accuse them of differential treatment. 

The alphas don’t expect him to take care of them; Nicky just does it anyways. Nicky finds ways to provide comfort and security for his family simply by being an omega.

Nile remembers being floored the first time Andy wrapped herself around Nicky while he stood at the stove, burying her face into Nicky’s neck. They had just gotten home from a particularly bad mission; Quynh had been captured again, and even though they got her back within a few hours, Andy was visibly rattled, her emotions raw and obvious. 

Nile watched as Andy rubbed her nose against Nicky’s scent gland, nuzzling along the column of his throat, and then she _kissed_ Nicky’s mark. Nile’s eyes widened as she watched Andy’s lips brush across Joe’s bite mark, causing Nicky to let out a soft, breathy moan. Nile braced herself then, waiting for Joe to surge to his feet, to snarl and defend his mate. She waited for the alphas to clash. Instead Joe had just smiled, shaking his head fondly as Andy inhaled deeply and savored the scent of content omega. 

Once Nile notices, she can’t stop seeing it. She doesn’t bother trying to keep track of the ways Nicky shows his affection for Joe -- there’s tokens and kisses and so much domesticity she might actually vomit -- but she keeps a close eye on the ways he interacts with the other alphas. Nicky always offers Andy physical touch; she’s more tactile with him than any other member of the team, smiling warmly as she scents his neck or rests their foreheads together. He’ll rearrange his nests for Quynh to ensure she’s not as claustrophobic, then spend hours telling her stories from the past five hundred years. 

Today, Nicky is lying with his head in Booker’s lap, purring as Booker cards his fingers through his hair and reads _Huckleberry Finn_ out loud. 

Nile sits at the kitchen table, glaring at them over the rim of her mug. She just doesn’t get it, how Nicky lets himself be so soft and vulnerable around all the alphas. Maybe omegas in the eleventh century were more open about their gender? Or is this just a Nicky thing? God, Nile cannot imagine feeling so comfortable around an alpha that she would let her guard down enough to _purr_.

(To be honest, she doesn’t remember the last time she purred or even nested. She doesn’t remember ever feeling as settled in her own skin as Nicky seems to be every single day.)

“A penny for your thoughts, sweet Nile?”

Nile jumps, tearing her eyes away from Nicky to see that Joe has settled at the table across from her. His eyes crinkle as he smiles at her, clearly amused that she had no idea he was there. His curls are a bit out of control today, and everytime he runs his fingers through them Nile catches a whiff of his scent. She would never, ever admit it, but she finds Joe’s scent the most soothing of the alphas. Even just having him at the table with her makes her feel a bit more settled.

“I was just watching Nicky.”

“Ah,” Joe says, his grin widening, “a pastime I understand well.”

Nile rolls her eyes. Those two are gross.

“Not like that,” she admonishes. “I’m just still confused by how Nicky acts around you alphas. How much of this,” -- she gestures at Nicky rubbing his cheek against Booker’s thigh -- “is actually Nicky?”

“I’m not sure I understand your question.”

Nile scrubs her hand down her face. She’s not even sure she understands her question, but she tries again anyway. “Does Nicky always take care of you guys because that’s how he is… as a person? Or just because he’s an omega?”

Joe frowns, tilting his head slightly as he studies Nile. “I don’t think you can separate the two,” he says. “I don’t think there are parts of Nicky that are who he is, and parts of him that are ruled by his gender. Nicky _is_ an omega.”

“He doesn’t mind being defined simply as an omega?”

“Of course it doesn’t define him,” Joe insists. “But it informs the way he interacts with the world.”

“So you’re saying that because Nicky is an omega, he’s soft and caring?” Nile tries to keep the hurt out of her voice. She knows that Joe is almost a thousand years old; it makes sense that he has some archaic views of how alphas and omegas fit within society. It still stings, thinking that her new family will try to force her into some outdated role.

“Not at all. Nicky’s gender has nothing to do with his softness; he could be an alpha or a beta and still be the kindest man the world has never deserved. Being an omega just changes how he’s able to show people he cares.” 

Joe looks over at Nicky, and his gaze softens. “See how calm Booker looks? Nicky did that just by being himself, by being happy.” He turns back to Nile. “When Booker first joined us he couldn’t really sleep. His grief was still… too close, too overwhelming. It drove Nicky crazy that he couldn’t take away that hurt, but he figured out that he could help Booker sleep. He snuck into Booker’s bed every night for years because Booker would only finally drift off if Nicky was purring against his chest. They still sleep together sometimes.” 

“You let your omega sleep with another alpha for _years_?”

“Of course,” Joe says, “Nicky isn’t just my mate. He’s his own person and chooses who he spends his time with. And how could I begrudge him for helping Booker? Isn’t it a blessing that his biology helps him bring peace to the people he loves?”

Nile has never, not once in her entire life, heard someone refer to being an omega as a blessing.

“Is that what you guys expect from me?” Nile’s voice cracks around the words. “Because I’m not… I’m not that kind of omega, I don’t know how to be.” She’s not sure if she wants to be. She’s somehow both jealous and resentful of Nicky, of how easily he purrs and how much the alphas love him. 

Joe’s eyes widen. He opens his mouth as if he’s ready to speak, closes it abruptly. Then, he licks his lips and says, “Of course not, Nile. We don’t need another Nicky. We need you, exactly as you are.” 

Joe’s scent begins to change, becoming somehow heavier, but with a hint of spice. It reminds Nile of mulled wine, rich and warm, settling deep in her bones and leaving her senses buzzing pleasantly.

_Protective_ , her brain supplies, _he smells protective over me._

“I’m going to go lie down,” Nile mumbles. She sets her mug on the table and stands to leave, her eyes fixed on the floor. She’s fairly certain if she looks at Joe she’s going to do something stupid like bury her face against his chest and inhale the comforting scent of _alpha_. And Joe would absolutely let her, which is why she needs to leave. Now. 

“Rest well, Nile,” Joe says quietly. He doesn’t comment on her hasty retreat, but Nile can feel his eyes burning the back of her neck the entire length of the hall.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The drill sergeant startled them all with a surprise inspection, and the cadets surged to their feet as he paced down the row of beds. He stopped in front of her bunk, spinning on his heel to stare critically down at the mattress. 
> 
> “This is sloppy,” he shouted, reaching out to tug the corner of her sheets. “This is the Marines, omega. I told you to make your bed, not a nest.” He untucked all the edges and deposited the blankets on a heap in the center of her bed. “Again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A million thanks to @dana_norram, who is such a lovely beta and cheerleader!

Nile’s room in the safe-house is relatively spartan; she doesn’t have many belongings that she carries with her from place to place. She glances around at the blank walls and the perfectly made bed, her laundry folded neatly on top of her pillow. The room feels too empty, too cold, and suddenly she hates how impersonal it seems. She knows that she’s never going to actually settle in one place -- the nature of their lives means they’re constantly on the move. But there has to be something she can do to change this space, to feel less exposed.

Scowling, Nile shoves all the laundry to the floor, then stands at the foot of her bed and feels lost as old memories claw their way to the surface.

_The drill sergeant startled them all with a surprise inspection, and the cadets surged to their feet as he paced down the row of beds. He stopped in front of her bunk, spinning on his heel to stare critically down at the mattress._

_“This is sloppy,” he shouted, reaching out to tug the corner of her sheets. “This is the Marines, omega. I told you to make your bed, not a nest.” He untucked all the edges and deposited the blankets on a heap in the center of her bed. “Again.”_

Nile traces her finger along the crisp corners of her sheets, folded with military precision, as bile scalds the back of her throat. _This is the Marines, omega_. She rips the sheets from the bed with a frustrated growl, balling them up before throwing them across the room. Nile stares at the untidy pile of bedding, hating the way her fingers itch to arrange it into a nest. 

There’s a soft knock on the door to her room. “Nile? Are you alright?”

Nile closes her eyes. Of course Nicky is checking on her. “Yeah. Great.”

“May I come in?”

She hesitates. Nicky will absolutely leave her alone if she asks him to, but she also doesn’t want to worry him. Nicky _frets_ when he thinks members of his family are hiding things from him, and Nile isn’t sure she can handle the other omega hovering over her. It’s not that Nicky himself is overwhelming -- she's just spent her entire life surrounded by alphas and betas, and she has absolutely no idea how to deal with a concerned omega.

“Yeah, sure.”  
  


Nile expects the door to swing open, displaying the mess she’d made to the rest of the house. Instead, Nicky just slips inside and closes the door behind him. His eyes dart around the room, taking in the crumpled sheets and piles of clean laundry dumped unceremoniously on the floor. His eyes finally settle on Nile, who tries to shrug.

“I was just making the bed,” she says.

“Okay.” Nicky doesn’t say anything else, just waits for her to decide whether she wants to elaborate or not. 

“The sheets were too neat,” Nile says, and cringes as she glances between the empty mattress and the cluttered floor. That probably didn’t make any sense, but it’s the only way she can begin to explain the violent impulse to throw all of her bedding on the ground.

Nicky’s eyes soften. “Planning on making something a bit cozier?”

“Maybe,” Nile mumbles, “but I’m not sure. I’ve never actually made a nest.” She waits for Nicky’s incredulous _never?_ , prepares to explain herself and why she is such an incompetent omega. She had been raised by alphas, and then she had been a Marine -- there was never time to learn how to be soft.

But Nicky doesn’t question her, or make her feel foolish. Instead, he asks, “Would you like some help?”

Nile bites her lip and nods. Nicky’s face splits into a wide, brilliant grin, the kind that Nile rarely ever sees, and _oh_ does she completely understand why Joe can’t tear his eyes away from his mate. She smiles back, then laughs when Nicky nearly runs into the door in his haste to go find more materials. 

Nicky makes several trips, tossing blanket after blanket into Nile’s room. She raises an eyebrow when clothing starts to join the mix -- three of Andy’s tank tops, Quynh’s favorite red overcoat, several of Booker’s t-shirts, and what appears to be some of Joe’s workout shirts. Nicky finally seems pleased once the pile waist high, and then he glances up at Nile expectantly. 

“What now?” Nile asks. She tries to remember how Nicky organizes his nests, the complicated way he drapes blankets and arranges sheets to cradle him and one of the alphas to sleep. She wonders if they should start small, maybe pile blankets on top of the bed, but decides that a large nest on the floor sounds much more appealing.

“It’s up to you, tesoro. Is there something in particular that you think will make you feel safe?”

Nile frowns. “I’m not sure.”

“We’ll start at the beginning then,” Nicky says. “Would you be more comfortable in an open nest or in an enclosed space?”

Niles chews on her lip, considering the difference. The closed nests always remind her a bit of the blanket forts she and her brother used to construct in their living room as kids, only much more decadent and cozy. Nicky usually only makes open nests when Quynh seems on edge, her eyes glazed over and her breathing quickening like she’s forgetting that she’s inhaling oxygen and not salt water. 

(Nile’s heart always aches when she sees Quynh’s back flush against Nicky’s chest, mimicking his deep breaths and letting him nuzzle the side of her neck. There’s something about seeing an alpha in the arms of the omega that makes something twist deep in her gut.)

“Both,” Nile decides. “Let’s hang blankets all around, but leave one side open? We’ll just turn this entire part of the room into a big nest.”

“I love it -- very creative for your first nest, Nile. Just trust your instincts, you know what you need.”

Nile flushes. She’s not sure she knows how to trust herself. Ever since she was sixteen, she’s fought to ignore these urges, the compulsion to surround herself with comfort and warmth. She’s carved a persona that is all bared teeth and hard boundaries, and she let the world and all its expectations harden her so that she could be taken seriously. 

Nile has spent her entire life making sure she'd never be seen as one of _those_ omega, and it’s fucking exhausting. 

She looks at Nicky, who is humming to himself as he tries to figure out how to anchor the edge of a blanket to the tall dresser. Nicky shatters the binary that she has created in her head over the years. He’s a caretaker and a killer, soft around the edges with a core of steel. 

If Nicky is worthy of this indulgence, this sense of _home_ , maybe Nile is too. 

Nile joins him by the dresser, opening the top drawer and tucking the edge of the blanket inside before sliding it shut. Nicky beams at her, then wanders off to go hang more blankets around the room. They work together in amicable silence for a few more minutes until they’ve constructed a rather elaborate tent-like structure.

Nile frowns. “Now what?”

“Now’s the best part. We arranged the rest of the blankets inside.” Nicky reaches for a quilt and holds it out to Nile. “I always like to lay one thick blanket on the floor, sort of a foundation for the rest of the nest.”

“That sounds smart,” Nile says. She takes that quilt from Nicky and then ducks beneath the hanging sheets. She shakes the quilt open and spreads it across the floor, running her fingers over the soft fabric. Nicky was right, it will make a great base for her nest. 

She settles on the ground and then looks up at Nicky. He’s kneeling outside the entrance, his pale green eyes shining as he watches her smooth out the quilt. 

“Are you going to come in?”

“Wanted to make sure I was invited,” Nicky replies. 

“As long as you aren’t wearing shoes, you’re allowed in my nest.”

“You wound me, Nile!” Nicky exclaims, a tad dramatically. “As if I would ever wear shoes inside. I’ll come in after I pass you some blankets, that way you can start organizing them how you like.”

“But I don’t know what I like.” 

“You will,” Nicky says, offering Nile a luxurious cashmere throw. “Just start moving things around. You’ll either be satisfied with your nest or not -- don’t overthink it.” 

So Nile doesn't. She arranges the blankets and pillows Nicky hands her into various piles, some shaped like bowls where she could nestle in the center, others carefully constructed so that she could recline comfortably against them. After all of the materials have been transferred into the nest, Nicky joins her inside. 

Nile is fiddling with the final blanket when Nicky breaks the silence. 

“Joe said you have some questions about me being an omega?” Nile often has difficulty reading Nicky’s tone, but his voice seems suspiciously more neutral than normal. He doesn’t meet her gaze, just continues strategically placing pillows throughout the nest. 

“Not questions, exactly.” Nile takes a breath, trying to articulate exactly what she had been feeling when she saw Nicky purring in Booker’s lap. “You’re just not like an omega I’ve ever met.”

Nicky shoots her a conspiratorial look, a small smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. “Well before you came along, I was the only immortal omega.”

Nile snorts. “Jealous you’re no longer one of a kind?”

“Not at all.” Nicky turns the full intensity of his gaze on Nile, his expression earnest and open. “I couldn’t be happier to share all of this with you, Nile.”

Nile swallows hard and reaches for one of the articles of clothing Nicky had stolen from the alphas, looking for distraction and consolation. She buries her face in one of the shirts and inhales, sighing as the comforting smell of _alpha_ fills her nostrils. Then she realizes whose shirt she’s scenting and looks up at Nicky guiltily.

“It’s okay,” he assures her with a grin. “I think Joe smells nice too.” 

“You don’t mind?”

Nicky tilts his head. “Of course not. Joe may be my mate, but he’s only one of my alphas. I suppose I figured he would be one of yours too.”

Nile hides her face in Joe’s shirt again, hoping Nicky didn’t notice the tears building behind her eyelashes. “How are you like this?”

“Like what?”

“So… confident? I don’t know any omega who would let someone else scent their mate like this. Or who loves the way their body can provide comfort to alphas who aren’t even their mate.”

“Nile, will you look at me?” Nicky huffs a laugh when Nile shakes her head, then asks again, “Please?”

Nile pulls Joe’s shirt down just enough for her eyes to be revealed -- she keeps the bottom half of her face completely covered.

“I’ve had nine hundred years to figure out who I am and how I fit in this world,” Nicky says. “It’s been a long, slow path, but I am truly happy with the things I’ve discovered and the people I’ve found.”

“So you weren’t always super zen about being an omega?”

Nicky shakes his head, and for a second Nile thinks his eyes look unfathomably sad. “My father disowned me after I presented. I joined the Crusades because a priest told me that dying for the Lord was the only way my tainted soul would get into heaven.”

The tears that Nile has been blinking back finally spill over -- she can’t reconcile her sweet, self-assured Nicky with the broken young man who must have thought dying was the only thing he was good for. 

“You must have been really shocked when you found out you couldn’t be killed.” The words are muffled by Joe’s shirt and her own sobs, but Nile thinks that Nicky understands them anyway. 

“I was very confused,” Nicky admits with a small laugh. “Even more so when I woke up beside the alpha who killed me and saw him gasp back to life with my sword still in his chest.”

“Y’all have the _weirdest_ love story.” 

“It’s unconventional to be sure. But Nile, the point is that I went from not even viewing myself as a person to finding joy in being an omega.”

“So you’re saying I’ll get there?”

Nicky gathers her in his arms and pulls her flush against his chest. He presses his lips against her forehead. 

“What I’m saying,” he murmurs, “is that you are already a wonderful human and omega. And there’s nothing I would like more than to spend the next few centuries helping you see that.”

Nile turns her head to the side and half-heartedly bites his collarbone. She smiles when he yelps. “Stop making me cry!” 

“I wasn’t trying to!” Nicky insists. “Would you like to finish nesting?”

Nile shoves herself away from Nicky and glances around. Her chest warms at the sight of all the blankets and pillows, artfully arranged in welcoming piles. 

“I think it’s done,” she says. “Do you have any finishing touches?”

Nicky taps his fingers to his lips as he surveys the nest. “No, I think it’s perfect. Would you like me to leave so that you can get cozy in all the blankets?”

Nile hesitates. “Or you could stay? You already made me cry, the least you can do is cuddle me after.”

“I didn’t mean to make you cry, I was trying to be nice!” Nicky scrubs a hand down his face and laughs. “Please don’t tell Joe I made you cry, he’ll never forgive me. But yes, of course I’ll stay. Just tell me where you’d like me to go.”

Nile points to a particularly plush pile of blankets, and Nicky immediately lays down on top of them. He rearranges some of the pillows beneath his head, then holds his arm out and beckons for Nile to join him. She smiles as she curls up against his side, resting her head on his chest. His arm curves around her shoulder and his fingers trace small designs on her bicep. 

“Thank you for showing me how to do this,” Nile whispers, rubbing her cheek against the soft fabric of Nicky’s shirt.  
  


“It was my pleasure,” Nicky replies. He pulls a blanket over the two of them, and Nile sighs as she snuggles closer against him. There’s a deep rumble somewhere in her chest, and Nile feels a wave of comfort wash over her as the vibrations radiate through her body and settle heavy in her bones.

“I see why the alphas like when you purr,” she mumbles against Nicky’s chest. “You’re like my own personal massage chair.”

Nicky snorts. “That’s you, Nile.”

Nile squirms in his arms, rolling half on top of him so that she can look him in the eye. The vibrations stop. Nicky cranes his neck to meet her eyes, his brows drawn slightly together.

“I’ve never purred before,” Nile says. 

The corner of Nicky’s lips twitch upward. “No?” When Nile shakes her head, he says, “It’s nice, isn’t it?”

“I want to do it again.”

Nile tries to slide off Nicky’s chest and resume their original positions, but his arms tighten around her, anchoring her in place. He’s still looking at her, his gaze almost unbearable soft as one hand moves to stroke her hair. Then he tilts his chin up, exposing the long lines of his throat.

Nile’s eyes flick between Nicky’s eyes and his neck, her gaze questioning, and his small smile is the answer. She scoots forward, her body now almost entirely on top of Nicky’s, and buries her face into the side of his neck. He sighs contentedly as Nile brushes her nose against his skin and scents him.

She probably doesn’t react to his pheromones the same way as the alphas, but she feels more calm and centered than she has in ages. Nicky’s scent is inexplicably floral and earthy -- for some reason it reminds Nile of a lavender field after a storm. She begins to purr again, the vibrations chasing the last bit of tension from her body. She closes her eyes and gets lost in the sensation.

Nile smiles when she feels an answering rumble in Nicky’s chest.

She’s not sure how long they lay there, simply taking comfort in the warm presence of each other. Finally she asks, “Am I squishing you?”

Nicky’s arms fold around her again and squeeze her tightly. “You are the world’s best weighted blanket.”

“I won’t tell Joe you said that.”

Nicky rests his cheek against her head. “Joe can’t purr.”

Nile nuzzles even further into the crook of Nicky’s neck. She thinks about the centuries Nicky has spent offering this kind of physical affection to their alphas, helping his family find moments of peace. She knows that the alphas provide their own kind of comfort; still, she can’t help but feel proud that she’s the first one who can do this for Nicky.

“No,” she says, “I guess he can’t.”

* * *

Nile doesn’t think she falls asleep, but she definitely drifts, the world outside of the nest fading away. She’s so relaxed that she doesn’t even lift her head when someone knocks on the door, just reluctantly opens one eye. She thinks she tells whoever it is to come in, although she’s honestly not sure if she still has the ability to form words.

It must have worked though, because the door swings open and Joe peeks his head inside. Nicky’s purring intensifies and his scent deepens slightly when he sees his mate.

“I was wondering where all the blankets went,” Joe says with a teasing edge in his voice. He steps into the room and closes the door behind him. “You thieving omegas could at least have left us with sheets on our beds.”

“Incorrect,” Nile says, her voice soft and slurred as she mumbles directly into Nicky’s neck. “We needed _all_ the blankets.”

“It’s Nile’s first nest,” Nicky adds. “We had to go big.” 

Joe’s brown eyes glitter as he surveys the room, taking in the carefully draped blanket walls and the large piles of blankets and pillows. He smiles when he sees the alphas’ clothes arranged in a loose semicircle around Nicky and Nile.

“It’s very impressive, Nile,” Joe says, turning that grin towards her. “You should be very proud.” 

“Do you hear that?” Nicky murmurs, so soft that Joe cannot hear him -- his words are just for her. “Alpha thinks you did good.”

Part of Nile thinks she should be offended that Nicky thinks she needs an alpha’s validation. But Joe’s compliment wasn’t patronizing or condescending; he seemed genuinely pleased with her nest. Nile takes a deep breath. If the omegas in their family can offer comfort without any expectations, then it must be the same for the alphas as well. 

Nile smiles and accepts Joe’s praise. It’s warm as it rolls up her spine and settles at the base of her skull. “Thank you, alpha.”

Joe’s grin is _blinding_. 

“May I come inside your nest?”

“Sure,” Nile says. “It’s very cozy.”

"Shoes off!" Nicky adds, his tone suggesting that this is a conversation he and Joe have had _many_ times. Joe sticks out his tongue, as if he were twelve instead of nine hundred years old, then reaches down to unlace his sneakers and slip them off.

Nile slides off of Nicky, who whines at the loss of body heat. She rolls her eyes, then curls up against his side with her head pillowed on his chest. 

“I was just making room for Joe, Nicky.” She gestures to his left flank, where Joe will now have space to settle against Nicky and touch his mark. 

“That’s very sweet of you, Nile,” Joe says, ducking so that he can enter the nest without accidentally tearing down any of the blankets. He kneels next to Nicky and then kisses him hello, once on the cheek and once over his mark. “Good evening, hayati.”

“Good evening, amore mio. Are you going to lie down?”

Joe settles on his side, chuckling when Nicky lifts his head up so that Joe can slide his arm underneath. He presses the entire length of their bodies together and sighs happily. He moves his hand as if he’s going to rest it on Nicky’s chest, then hesitates with his fingers hovering over Nicky’s heart. Tentatively, Joe reaches out to curl his hand around Nile’s neck instead.

“Is this okay, Nile?”

“Hmm,” she hums, her voice soft and pleased. “‘It’s nice.” 

“You know the rest of the alphas are going to be extremely jealous that I got to sleep in your first nest.”

‘You should text them,” Nile says. “The more the merrier.” Nicky’s arm tightens around her, and the floral undertone of his scent spikes. _He’s proud of her_. 

The rest of the alphas wander into her room over the next fifteen minutes, praising her nest and arranging themselves into an absurd pile. Booker had originally curved around Nile’s back before Quynh squirmed her way between them, shoving her nose into Nile’s braids and inhaling deeply. Booker grumbles as he slings his arm over Quynh’s waist, his hand resting on Nile’s hip. Andy sprawls out somewhere above their heads, covering herself with eight different blankets and tangling her fingers in Nicky’s hair. 

Nile lifts her head slightly off Nicky’s chest to glance around at her family, comfortable and warm in _her_ nest. She settles back against Nicky with a faint smile playing across her lips.

She closes her eyes and begins to purr. 


End file.
